


The Gravity Of Us

by wonderingseblos



Category: High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (TV)
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Gini - Freeform, minor underage drinking, space gays!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-18
Updated: 2020-06-22
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:55:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,116
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24795769
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wonderingseblos/pseuds/wonderingseblos
Summary: Gina Porter is an aspiring journalist living in brooklyn, her life is as good as it can be when you have two parents who are constantly at each other's throats and only one real friend to confide in.All that changes when her dad Michael is chosen by NASA as the final member of their mission to mars team and she is uprooted and moved to houston, suddenly mixed up in america’s hottest topic around.With a team of show producers snooping around for all the dirt they can find, Gina doesn’t know how to pretend she lives a picture perfect life, until she meets Nini Salazar-Roberts, daughter of another astronaut on her father's team, who seems to have it all together.Can Gina find the balance between fixing herself, her parents rocky relationship, and a budding romance with one of the cutest girls around, or will she break under the pressure?DISCLAIMERS:Read notes before each chapter to check for trigger warningsThis fic is based on the book The Gravity Of Us by Phil Stamper
Relationships: Gina Porter & Nini Salazar-Roberts, Gina Porter/Nini Salazar-Roberts, gini - Relationship
Kudos: 14





	1. Chapter

**Author's Note:**

> there are no warnings for this chapter, I hope you enjoy!

_Shooting Stars - Season 1; Episode 6._

_On this week's episode of Shooting Stars, our host Benjamin Mazzara sits down with astronaut Dana Salazar-Roberts to discuss her involvement in the Orpheus Project. (episode aired 6/15/2019)_

_“Good afternoon, I’m your host Benjamin Mazzara, and i’m here today with Dana Salazar-Roberts. Dana has been part of the Orpheus team for three months now, and as a pilot and engineer, who knows what the team at NASA have in store for her. Now Dana, there are currently 9 members of your team, and over the next years there will be around 11 more, is that correct?”_

 _“First of all, hello! Thank you for having me here! But yes, there will be 11 more astronauts added to our team, but NASA obviously wants the best candidates out there, and are taking their time to make sure they make the choice that will give our mission the best possible chances of being successful.”_

_“Of course, we wish them luck with those heavy decisions, I can imagine how much research that must take. Moving back to you, we hear you are big on diversity for this project, hoping that NASA takes on the best people for the job no matter what?” “Oh definitely Benjamin. From the start that has been a huge factor for me, I mean, think about when the toughest astronauts were actually just the toughest white men NASA could find. I believe that if we want this mission to truly work, we need to ignore factors like race, gender, and orientation and just get those who are best for the job. Whether that lowers my chances of leading the mission or not, it’s crucial that we get people with all types of backgrounds and skills so we can really test the limits of exploration on mars.”_

* * *

_\- New York, one year later -_

I attempt to blow a strand of hair out my face before pushing through the crowd of commuters to get out the station and into Times Square. I quickly take my phone out my pocket, assessing my surroundings before opening Instagram and starting the live broadcast.

I always get this rush, just before I start streaming, when my heart starts beating a little bit faster and I feel the confidence bubbling inside of me. I’ve always loved journalism, english has always been a favourite subject of mine, but it wasn’t until i started doing this - broadcasting actual news to thousands of actual people - that i really got into it. I take a deep breath before announcing myself to the world.

“Hey, It’s Gina, bringing you another weekend update. It’s been pretty normal here in New York, all the usual violence and amber alerts, you know the drill.” I make that joke every time, a way to center my brain before I start reporting on stuff the people want to hear, which (unfortunately for me) is the Orpheus project. It’s all anyone has been talking about since it was announced, six astronauts being sent to mars, sure it’s exciting stuff, but i’m sort of sick of reporting on it. I try to hide my unease about the topic, but I think people are starting to notice how I skim through the information at the start of all my streams.

“Nationally however, as i’m sure many of you are aware, NASA’s Orpheus team are looking for their twentieth and final member to be added to their team. When said person is decided, they will be relocated to Houston to join the other astronauts looking for a place on the Orpheus V spacecraft and launched into space to be the first people walking on the surface of Mars.”

I try my best to look excited as I say this, I swear, but even seeing my viewer count grow can't stop the feeling of wanting to throw up that grows in my stomach. 

“As hard as they’re trying, earlier today a representative of “Star Watch” confirmed the crew of their hit cable show know nothing more than you and I.”

With that obligatory update over, i can finally move on to giving my recommendations for weekend events, shows, markets, nice local cafes and everything else going on in the city. Although these small updates are usually my favourites, I've covered bigger stories too, national level stuff. That was how my account really broke through, a republican candidate for senator in New York went off the grid, not taking any interviews or answering any questions until election night. Me being me, I thought it was utter bullshit that he was getting away with it, so I may have not gotten on the school bus one day and instead gone to the restaurant where he had been spotted, waiting for him to come out. I had my camera hidden in my pocket recording when he walked out. He answered a few of my questions nicely, but funnily enough, when i asked about the sexual assault allegations, I ended up chasing his car down the street to get an answer out of him. Unfortunately I didn't get a statement, but I did get a three minute long video of him cursing me out, live, with thousands of people watching. Needless to say, he dropped out, my numbers soared, and news sites all over the state were using my footage.

It’s then I notice that i’m already on the street where i’m supposed to meet kourtney, so I quickly wrap everything up, say goodbye, and end the stream, sliding my phone back into my bag. She isn’t on the street, so I head into the little cassette shop we were going to to find her.

I say “we”, but it's just me really. Kourt doesn’t get my fixation with them, and whenever i try to explain why they are so much better, she looks at me like she’s seconds away from killing me on the spot, so i prefer to just keep it to myself. I wave at her, and she walks over, looking bored out of her mind. We talk about the stream as I browse, not finding much except an old Elton John tape that I don't have, so I buy that and we make our way out. She spends a few minutes scolding me for making her wait, but once I offer to buy her coffee the annoyance fades away. 

Surprisingly, it wasn’t too busy today, so we’re back in Brooklyn walking towards our apartment block fairly quickly. I’m scrolling through my comments when I notice one from EJ Caswell. “Loved this one!” he says, which makes me scoff. Kourtney looks at my phone and scoffs too. “Funny how he can take the time to “love” your posts, but not to say he likes you after playing with your feelings for a month.”

She comments, taking the phone from my hand and removing the comment before I can say anything else.We walk silently up the stairs, only talking to say goodbye when we get to her third floor apartment, me still having one flight to go. 

I reach my door and shuffle things around in my bag looking for my keys. When i finally find them i unlock the door, stepping inside, and -for lack of better words- that’s when the shit hits the fan.

  
  


“Whether you get this call or not you, we have a life- jobs, here!” 

I hear my mom shouting from the kitchen. There's no reply before she continues.

“All you do is wait by the phone Michael, we can't afford for you to miss any more work over this.”

She sounds exhausted, but keeps going anyway.

“They said they would call by today if you were picked, it’s 6 o’clock, you need to let this go.” 

She’s still shouting, but I can tell she’s giving up. I try to sneak past unnoticed, but I trip over a shoe that’s been left lying out, and silently curse myself as she starts gesturing towards me. Great, I think to myself, one more argument I'm unwillingly involved in.

“Look I really don’t want to be a part of this” I hold my hands up in surrender, continuing to walk to my room, until something mom says makes me stop in my tracks.

“What about gina! What about her videos?”

I turn on my heels, stomping into the kitchen, they can’t take this away from me. My dad turns towards me, avoiding eye contact as he speaks up.

“What are you talking about?”

“Well, we don’t really know for sure, but there was something in the contract about-”  
“It was clear in the contract Mike, no videos that feature people who are involved in the mission can be posted publicly.”

When she says that, it’s like time stops for a second. How stupid was i to not realise this sooner. If this happens, we’re practically living on a set, having our lives filmed for people's enjoyment. I was never going to be able to keep streaming. They knew that, the whole time. They knew.

“How could you let them stop me from doing this? It’s all I have.” I try to shout, but all that comes out is a whisper. My eyes begin watering, so I turn again, rushing to my bedroom so I can play a tape, put on my headphones, and try to drown out the shouts that I know are going to start up the second my door is shut.

I want to go back out, I want to help them fix this, our family, but it’s all too much. Even before dad came home to tell us he applied for a place on the Orpheus team they were fighting every other night, this has just made it all worse.

I can still hear them as I flick through my tapes, hear moms voice breaking as she gets quieter.

“I grew up here Mike, my family grew up here. You didn’t even consult me before you decided to apply for something that would force us to leave.” 

She’s not cruel enough to say what I know she meant. This is where her sister grew up, this is where all the memories of her are. Not in some neighborhood in Houston. Here, It’s home.

I have music blaring through my headphones, but that doesn’t stop the thoughts bouncing around my head. Thoughts that i should have considered before, moving to houston, putting my life on hold so that dad can become an astronaut? I think I'm living in a fever dream. What if we go, we become regulars on Shooting Stars, our broken family don’t fit in with them, their perfect lives are the exact opposite of us. How could we play that role? What would happen if dad snapped and triggered moms anxiety again, but in front of the whole world. 

Stop, you’re spiralling, i think to myself. This isn’t going to happen, the odds are stacked against us. The thought calms me down just enough for me to forget, even for a minute, what's happening outside my door. Maybe that minute is all I need. Maybe this will all be okay.

I don’t know how much time passes before mom slowly opens my door and I see the tears welling up in her eyes. Maybe not. I slide my headphones down to sit around my neck, waiting for her to start talking.

“Your dad has some news.”

No. No no no no. My head is filled with thoughts of “no” and nothing else. Mom gestures out the door, so I stop the tape and walk over to her. 

I see dad at the table.   
I see a bottle of champagne and three glasses.  
I see the room start spinning.   
I hear “even you can get a glass tonight gina, for a celebration. A toast to NASA’s newest astronaut!”.

I don’t know what this means for me. For mom. For all of us. All that I know is that I'm definitely about to be sick. I run to the bathroom.

My head is spinning as I lean against the wall, suddenly all the thoughts are back, but there's more, and they're faster. I'm thinking about the teaser for the first episode of "Shooting Stars" where they had Alexander Rodriguez in the landing simulation. I'm thinking about how public the lives of him and his family became. I'm thinking, and I'm thinking, and I'm thinking, and the door opens. 

I look up at my dad, weakly telling him 

"i just ate too much. that's all"

he sort of laughs at that, but in an 'unbelievable' way.

"so it has nothing to do with-"  
"with the fact that you're making us uproot our lives so you can go be an astronaut for NASA? the fact that i won't be able to do my reporting anymore? no. it's nothing to do with that, nothing at all"

mom looks at him, like she can tell he's getting annoyed with me  
"we can ask them, we can ask if she can keep doing her streams can't we?"

I mentally thank her for trying to diffuse the situation, but I know it's not working. 

"why can't either of you be happy for me, just for a bit. this is everything I've ever wanted to do, and this is what we're talking about. I'm sorry you won't be able to do your live streams any more, but this is a huge opportunity for me, for us.  
p>  
I want so badly to scream at him about how unfair he is, how my life and my future is just as important, but I see mom's hands shaking, her eyes darting back and forth, frozen between us and I know this isn't good for her. Just breathe, i tell myself as i get up off the floor and walk out the room. They're talking to me, but I ignore it until dad shouts at me to stop.  


"Gina, there's not time for you to sit and ignore that this is happening, you need to accept that this is our life now.”

One more breath.

"why."

He sighs.  
"because we have to leave on monday." 


	2. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After some important conversations with Kourtney and her father, Gina finally faces the reality of her soon-to-be new life.

_ Shooting Stars - Season 1; Episode 10 _

Today, we pay a visit to the Salazar-Roberts residence. Known for holding the best welcome party for new astronauts, Dana, Carol, Nina and Sebastian have agreed to sit down for an interview. (Episode aired 7/17/2019)

_  
"Good evening and welcome back to Shooting Stars with me, Benjamin Mazzara. We are lucky enough to be allowed to take you on a tour of the Salazar-Roberts home, but first, let's catch up with the family. I'm here with astronaut Dana Salazar-Roberts, her wife, Carol, and her children, Nina and Sebastian. Last time we were here, we had a short interview with you Dana, but we want to know more about your family today. Let's start with Nina, now, with such successful parents you seem to have a great legacy to live up to. We hear you were quite the dancer before the big move, Sebastian was telling me about your session earlier today, are there any competitions in your future?"  
"It was nice being in a studio again, but I've only been back once and it was really just for fun, nothing good, so I don't think I want to do anything serious with it anytime soon"  
"she's being humble, as usual. Nini didn't miss a step today, it's just been a little hard for us to get back into a regular routine after everything, but we're getting there i think. she's definitely still competition worthy, she just won't admit it."  
"it's lovely to see the sibling bond you two have, how supportive you are of each other. That just about takes up our time for the interview section of today's show, but you can find out more about how this family, and all the other families have been affected by the Orpheus Project at our website." _

* * *

__

__  
\- Brooklyn, Present Day. -  
__

__

I slam my door shut, not willing to hear anything else they have to say. I need to get out of here. I need somewhere to go. Kourtney. Tipping the contents of my bag onto the floor, I reach for my phone and quickly text her.

__

_  
I need to get out. Can I come down?  
_ immediately i see her typing. she must have heard us stomping around. _  
window or door?  
_ I look up at the door, I don't want to face them again. Not tonight.  
_ window.  
_ I slip on some shoes, and an over-sized hoodie for warmth and comfort before sliding the window open and climbing out onto the fire escape. I stay there for a moment, looking over the city skyline before it hits me. This is my last weekend in Brooklyn. I might never see this view again. Fuck.

__

Unable to keep my stupid emotions in check, I know I'm crying by the time i reach Kourtneys window that's waiting for me, open. She's sitting on the floor against her dresser, and the moment she notices me, my tears become sobs. I'm leaving her. Her phone is discarded to the floor as she rushes over to me, engulfing me in a hug.  
"you're okay, what's wrong Gina? the last time you stood here looking this upset was when you came to break up with me"

__

I know she’s joking, trying to diffuse the situation, but the memories of that night come back to me all at once. Pacing my room, working up the courage to tell her that EJ and I had kissed. It wasn't so much telling her about the kiss that was bad, though i did feel super guilty about it. It was that she knew how I felt about him before our relationship. How could I admit to her that kissing someone who I wasn’t even into anymore felt the same as kissing her, my girlfriend. It made me realise that I was only with her because she was comfortable. She was the only constant in my life, and I didn't want to take advantage of her feelings like that. After telling her, it took a little while to build up our trust again, but we both agree that we're better off as friends. Plus, Kourtney now loves to use the situation to make jokes at my expense. 

__

"Dad got the job" I choke out, her hand moving from the back of my head to my shoulders as she looks me in the eyes.  
"We're moving on Monday. To the middle-of-nowhere Texas. And i can't stream anymore because of a stupid contact. I don’t have anyone else, you’re all I've got Kourt...'' I try to calm myself, but it doesn't work very well, so she sits me down on the edge of her bed and helps me breathe.  
"You're going to be okay. you'll still have me i’m not going anywhere. And don’t listen to them, you're not signing shit are you?"  
I give her a confused look, not knowing what she means.  
"this is your dad's job, his contract, right? you aren't signing anything, they can't force you to stop. Don’t let them make you stop."   
I suppose she's right. Dad wouldn't like it, Star Network certainly wouldn't like it, but could either of them really stop me? 

__

"I don't know what’s going to happen," I admit.  
"you'll have fun, being a reality TV star, all that rubbish" she laughs out, before giving a more serious expression.  
"wait, you get to meet all the astronauts. you get to meet Alexander Rodriguez, and Dana Salazar-Roberts. and her daughter."  
I laugh at the dreamy look on her face. Yeah, it was really bad television, but we watched Shooting Stars together when it first came out, and something about Nina intrigued us both. Whether it was her pretty face, or her constant lack of shits to give when it came to the interviews, we don't know, but it should be interesting to meet her in person.

__

We sit in silence for a bit, unsure of what to say next, until Kourtney looks at me.  
“What about buzzfeed?”

__

As if my life hasn’t been shattered enough tonight, I can feel it breaking even more. After everything that happened I completely forgot about my internship. I’m supposed to start next week. This was going to be it, the deal breaker. The start of my career. Real, official career.

__

“Maybe you can keep doing it? It's not like you’d have nothing to write about.”  
I consider it for a second, but realistically know how unlikely it is.  
“I’ll ask them, at least it’s something to do on the car ride.”  
She smiles a bit, and shuffles over, wrapping her arms around me, sniffling.  
“I don’t know what i’m going to do without you”

__

Things aren’t great for my family, but it’s always been worse for Kourtney. All parents fight, but hers fight more, and it’s worse when they do. I shudder thinking about the time we heard her dad’s fist colliding with the wall, the dent is still there. When they break her heart, I fix it. It’s what we do. I’m the put together one. I fix people when they’re broken.   
“I’m really going to miss you, Kourt.”

__

“Promise me one thing Gina”  
She’s looking right at me now, more serious than I've ever seen her.  
“Don’t stop streaming, no matter what. You know what going IA for a year would do for your following. Keep going, i know you can, just promise me you won’t give up on it”

__

I pull her in again, resting my head on her shoulder as I realise, I can't change this. I can’t stop anything. These streams are the only thing in my life I have control of. I’ll go out kicking and screaming if I have to. So I lean back, look her in the eyes and tell her.  
I promise.”

__

The rest of the weekend goes way too fast, but I spend every second of it with Kourtney. She helps me pack, and protests furiously when she sees that I've put my Doc Martin’s in the bottom of my suitcase. They’re black, with roses embroidered down the sides, and Kourtney hates them with a burning passion.

__

“You’re going to Texas. Clear Lake Texas, to be exact.” she laughs, i try to look angry at her, but i can’t stop the smile that takes over my face as i turn to her, placing my hand on my hip  
“And? I don’t see your point”

__

She shakes her head at me, but doesn’t press further. Even though I don’t wear them much, they’re my favourite boots. It took me months to save up for them, but apart from my cassettes, they’re the only things that I’ve fully bought myself. They’re special.

__

__

* * *

__

On sunday night, I'm sitting in a small ice cream parlour with dad. I think’ he’s trying to make up for friday night, but if i'm honest, i don't want to hear it.   
“Gina, honey” he starts off, and I choose that moment to shove a spoonful of ice cream into my mouth so I can’t respond.

__

“I’m sorry that i didn't tell you sooner, and i'm sorry for how everything has worked out. I just want what's best for us, I thought maybe this could be the fresh start that we needed. But I should have consulted you and your mom. I hope you can understand that.”   
I shrug, continuing to pick at my ice cream. I know he wasn’t trying to mess everything up, but that doesn’t change the fact that he did.

__

__

* * *

__

“I still can’t believe you’re actually going to meet the astronauts. You’re going to live next to them. Do you know how crazy that is?” Kourtney sits beside me on the wall as we watch dad put all the suitcases in the car. I knew it was going to happen, but i haven’t really thought about it since our previous conversation. Alexander Rodriguez was the first astronaut picked for the project, and he’s always been kind of intimidating, Then there's Dana who is the exact opposite, she’s confident and serious on camera, but when she’s being filmed with her family it’s like they have their own little world together. I’m wary about some of them, but I think, maybe there's more to them than meets the eye. A real person behind the mask or some other poetic shit like that.

__

My thought bubble is burst when Kourtney elbows me, shoving her phone in my face. It’s a new issue of the time, with the Salazar-Roberts family gracing the front page. They’re all fairly good looking, but I keep getting drawn to Nina. She has these deep brown eyes, a similar colour to her hair that's been pinned up. They have her in a light blue dress to compliment the light tones the rest of them are wearing, but it suits her. Like, really suits her. Out of the corner of my eye I see dad put away the last box, which prompts me to hand back kourtney's phone. She puts it in her pocket and picks my bag from the ground, handing it over to me. Mum and dad said bye to her before getting in the car, letting us talk one last time.

__

“Let’s make a deal” she says, startling me.  
“What kind of deal?” I ask her, shifting my bag onto my shoulder.  
“After we graduate, come back. We can get a shitty apartment. Here or anywhere.”  
I look at her with confusion, we had avoided any talk of what happens when dad’s done with the project.  
“Kourt, what’s going on?”

__

She sighs, sitting down on the wall again.  
“It’s gotten worse since my dad lost his job. He still hasn’t found one, I don't even think we have insurance anymore and they had to use some of my savings for the rent this month.” she admits, and I put my hand on her shoulder.  
“Kourtney.. . you worked so hard to save that, it’s unfair of them to-”  
“No, it’s fine. I get it. At least I have a steady income.”   
I hug her again, holding her tight.  
“I’ll come back, as soon as i’m eighteen, I swear.”  
We’re both crying, but we ignore it. She kisses my forehead in a way she hasn’t done in months, before whispering “I love you” into my hair and walking back up the path, into the building.  
“I know.”

__

I wipe the tears off my cheeks and try to compose myself before I get into the car. I don’t even say anything, I just put headphones on and start my music, looking up that Times article so I can actually read it. Okay, maybe i want to look at the picture a little more, but i’m definitely going to read it after I've done that. At least, I was planning on reading it, but when opening the tab I find that there's a series of ten photos, I decide that I would much rather look through them, and pretend, just for a little while, that maybe my family can have that too.

__

After a while, I notice the portraits all take place on very sixties sets, with an old box TV standing to the side of the family. Against my better judgement, I take out one earbud and decide to ask about Clear Lake in the sixties. Unsurprisingly, he spends the better half of an hour talking about the subject, but even I have to admit, it is quite interesting. He tells me how back during the first mission to the moon, they had all the astronauts and their families move to homes they had built in Clear Lake. It gave them a way to bond, throw parties and mourn together as a team before some of them got to go to the moon. 

__

Okay, maybe it’s not that interesting, but the way he describes it, like it’s the best thing he’s ever heard, makes me keep listening until he runs out of things to say.  
“I guess it makes sense why they want us all to live in the same place then. So you can really be part of a team, outside of work too”  
He looks at me in the mirror and smiles  
“Exactly, like a team.”

__

I smile back, and mom rests her hand on top of his, and it feels like everything's back to normal, like we’re a family again.

__

__


	3. Chapter Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a car ride from hell, the Porter family arrive at their new home. Mixed up in the chaos of an unfortunate press encounter, Gina is introduced to the Salazar-Roberts, who are there to offer some advice on how to handle life in Clear Lake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw/ mention of underage drinking

I have just survived the following

A twenty-four hour car ride  
two nights in shitty motels  
two nights of sharing a room with my parents  


Honestly? I think I deserve a medal. I have officially lived through figurative hell, and can confidently say it was the worst experience of my life. I never thought i would be happy to arrive in Texas, but here we are, in our parked car, in our new neighborhood, and there is nothing I want more than to find our new house.

I step out of the car, and immediately regret it. My phone picks up service and refreshes my location, telling me that in the region of Clear Lake, Texas, it is currently ninety-two degrees. Forget everything I said about figurative, this is the closest I will ever get to literal hell.

We can’t go to our house until a NASA rep comes to tell us where it is and give us our keys, but I have a look around the area from where I'm standing. The street is basically a line of houses that curve round in a sort of horseshoe. In the middle sits a park area outlined by flowers and a couple rows of planters. There's a slide and a few swing sets, but that's pretty much it. At the far corner, there's a path leading into what looks like a forest area, but apart from these streets, there are no other houses in sight.

It gets to the point where I'm visibly and uncomfortably sweaty, and like some kind of fairy godmother here to grant my wish of a cold shower, a car pulls up next to ours and a woman in a NASA shirt steps out to greet us. As I walk over to join them, I see my parents talking with her, they look happy. Real happy though, not a “smile for the cameras” happy. For a second, I wonder if it's fake, if mom’s ignoring her anger at being taken out of Brooklyn for the sake of dad’s job, but i push those thoughts aside. If i'm going to be stuck here for god knows how long, i should at least try to see the bright side of things. I think back to what dad said when we were having ice cream, about this being a ”fresh start” for us as a family. 

For them. I'll do it for them, maybe this can fix everything. So, despite the sweat, despite everything else, I put on a smile and stretch out my hand.

“I’m Gina Porter, it’s nice to meet you”

She looks taken aback by the bluntness of my statement, but shakes my hand anyway and introduces herself as Mary Redonovich, and offers to show us to our new home. I look at mom, giving her a look that means “home?”, but she simply nods at me and takes my hand as we walk back to the car to follow Mary.

When we make it to the house, we spend a moment outside taking everything in. As much as I hate to admit it, it’s kind of amazing. It’s a simple house with a lawn yes, but it makes all this craziness feel more real, which i appreciate. Mary opens our door before handing the key over to dad and stepping inside. She lets us look around, and (minus the huge, brand new TV) the whole house is super retro, and it’s kind of awesome. 

The TV sits on an old sideboard, across from it a soft plush sofa and a short coffee table with a chair on either side. There are a few plants placed here and there, and the walls have some bright pop art style paintings of planets and stars. The wall is lined with a short bookshelf with a record player on top, which makes me roll my eyes. The top shelves are filled with different vinyls, the bottom ones with books and what appear to be old magazines.

After we’ve had what Mary deems to be an appropriate amount of time to look around, she calls us over to talk.

“I’m sure you are aware of the  _ slight _ media problem in the neighborhood, it mostly consists of reporters looking for a story, and there's also the Star Watch crew.” 

I roll my eyes, yet again, and see mom tense up at the mention of them, and Mary continues.

“Now, there are strict rules with those crews, which i’m about to go through with you. The team have full filming rights inside both houses and the space station within reason, but don’t forget that it’s your house, and you have the right to kick them out whenever you want them to go.” She smiles as she says that final sentence, as if it somehow makes the situation better, because yeah sure, strangers can film inside our home whenever and wherever they want, but we can kick them out. I scoff, but try to pass it off as a cough when I notice dad glaring at me.

We wrap up the rest of the tour, and Mary shows me where my bedroom is. I thank her before going inside and dumping my bag on the bed. It’s a double bed, which is an extremely welcome change, and the room in general is about double the size. There's a short set of drawers at each side of the bed and I immediately declare the left one as the home for my cassette player and tapes. I stop myself before I can keep looking around though. I feel like I'm being bribed, I was supposed to hate it, I wasn’t supposed to like everything. I don’t want to leave Brooklyn behind, I’m not ready. Not yet.

I sigh, putting my back to the dresser and sliding down to the floor. My phone buzzes with a notification from Instagram, so i open the app and find myself staring at the “go live” button. I’ve seen dad's contract. They didn’t want me to delete my account. They wanted full control of it, and that's so much worse. I think about Kourtney, and what she made me promise. Before I can think rationally and convince myself not to, I’m pressing the button, and watching my viewers flood in. I might regret this, but right now? I don’t care.

“Hello all! Now I know this is an odd time for a stream, but I have some  _ very _ important news to share.” 

I smile at the camera and I can hear my dad’s voice in my head telling me I should stop, but I don't. I keep going. I won’t let them control me. 

“Now last time some of you noticed that I sort of rushed through my update on the Orpheus Project, and I'm here, right now to tell you why.”

There's no going back, I think. I'm really doing this. I’m rebelling, and it feels fucking great.

“Now, I didn’t know this at the time, in fact i found this out on friday night, but I, Gina Porter, am letting you know that the twentieth and final astronaut being added to the Orpheus Project is none other than my father, Michael Porter and i am in fact streaming to you live from my new house in Clear Lake, Texas.”

Shit. I’m really in for it now.

“Now, if you don’t mind, after that huge announcement i also have a personal story to share about the three day road-trip i was forced to endure to get here”

I continue on, telling the story of the gross motel bathrooms as if everything is normal, as if I hadn’t just broken one of the biggest news stories Texas has seen in years. For around ten minutes, it is normal. I keep happily telling my stories until mom comes into my room, telling me to wrap it up. I say goodbye and end the live, following mom to the window to see the entire street, lined with cars, vans, reporters lining the pavement.

“Holy shit” I mutter under my breath, and rush downstairs to see dad standing outside with Mary who is panicking on the phone to someone, presumably from NASA. I go out to join them. The reporters notice immediately, and the cameras turn to face me. There has to be around a hundred people at least, and it hits me, in front of everyone. I did this. This happened because of what I said, fifteen minutes ago. I broke a national news story.

I’m about to tell dad we need to get back inside, get to mom, when I hear one of the women at the front start talking.

“We’re here standing outside of the house of Michael Porter, NASA’s newest astronaut. The news was broken earlier this evening by his daughter Gina Porter who-” 

Oh no. This isn’t good. If i could hear that there's no way dad couldn't. I turn to face him and try to explain, but i can’t shout and risk any reporters catching what i say. He doesn’t even look back at me before he marches past, going inside and slamming the door, leaving me trapped on the porch.

I look around, unsure of what to do.

breathe , i tell myself. This is just like your streams.

I smile at the cameras, willing dad to stay quiet inside as I make my way down the driveway. When I get to the bottom, the same woman from before introduces herself, and asks me if I'm going to give reports on the astronauts' lives here. I awkwardly chuckle, and do my best to make sure my voice isn't shaking when I answer her.

“Uh, i'm not really sure where my streams are going to go at the moment. But I'm just really happy for my dad. He's proud to be joining everyone here, and can't wait to start working with them all at NASA.”

I exhale deeply. That was a good answer, right? 

The reporter smiles at me, trying to prompt me further when I notice none other than Dana Salazar-Roberts walking towards me. I’ll be honest, I'm a little starstruck, which makes me glad that all the attention turns towards her. She stops just short of me, talking to no one in particular when she says

“We are all absolutely thrilled to have Michael joining our ranks, and i would love to tell you more, but i have to go and introduce myself and my family.” she smiles, waving at the camera before gesturing for me to follow her up the path.

“I’m really sorry, we had no idea how hectic it would get-” 

Dana stops me with a laugh

“It’s alright, you get used to it after a while”

I’m sure she didn't mean it, but her words make me uneasy. Do i really want to get used to news reporters swarming outside my house wanting me to tell them about my family's private life? I have no time to dwell on that thought before she asks me to introduce her to my parents. I open the door and step inside.

“Dad, mom, we have a visitor.”

They must hear me, because they both come out into the hall to see me standing next to Dana. Dad almost doesn't recognise her at first, but then the realisation dawns on his face, and he fumbles over his words.

“Oh, wow, Dana- or, Mrs Roberts. It’s wonderful to meet you”

“Good to meet you too, and please, call me Dana.” she smiles, shaking his hand and turning to mom, which makes dad realise he hasn’t introduced us yet.

“Oh, right, this is my wife Terri, and our daughter Gina.” he gestures towards us as she shakes hands with mom, and turns to me afterwards. 

“Believe it or not, i know Gina. My son, Seb has been watching your streams for a while, it was him who told me you had already gotten here thanks to your video.”

I blush a bit, feeling my dad’s stare burn into my face.

“About that… I didn’t know they would all come to the house like this. I’m sorry, i'll go check if they're still here” 

I make my exit before anyone can object, I hear Dana tell me not to go outside, but I don't listen.

The second I step out, I regret it. The number of people has tripled at least, and I'm suddenly frozen on the porch.

“Uh, hey, Gina.”

A voice appears beside me.

“Oh my god, it’s actually her.”

A second voice appears, and I turn my head to see Nina and Sebastian staring at me, looking absolutely perfect. 

“I’m Nina, nice to meet you” she’s talking a little too loud and I realise it's so the cameras can pick it up. She extends her arm, and I feel butterflies in my stomach when I take her hand. We linger for a second, before I let go to say hello to Sebastian too, not even noticing how she introduced herself.

“We wanted to come as soon as we heard you were here, I’m Sebastian, but you can just call me Seb.”

I smile at him, but we all realise that we don't really know where to go from here. 

“So… now we’ve met” I cringe at my words, the silence probably would have been better than that. The silence goes on for what feels like hours, until Nina bursts into laughter. Soon after, when she’s doubled over, Seb and I join her. When we stop, and she comes back up, she takes a step closer to me, and my breath hitches as she whispers, so the cameras can’t hear.

“Sorry, about the cameras and all. We just wanted to warn you that Star Watch is going to want an interview with the family, but if you want to avoid being hounded on your first day… there's a path between our houses where the reporters aren’t allowed. We could sneak out and go to a playground we found just off the trail?” 

I can’t tell if it's the sun making her eyes shine, or a hint of mischief, maybe a mix of both, but I can't deny that I like it. 

“Yeah, that sounds great.” breathing out again. I'm not sure what it is about today that has me constantly holding my breath.

“perfect, I'll go let mom know what's happening, is she inside?” 

I nod in Seb's direction, keeping my eyes on Nina as she leads me towards the path, away from the utter chaos that is now my front yard.

We walk down the path, and I can't help but be mesmerized by the way the sun hits the side of her face, like its highlighting how utterly perfect she is, somehow even more gorgeous in person.

“I know we just did this, but introducing myself in front of like, one hundred cameras was really weird, so I think we should try again.” I say, watching the way her hair moves as she ducks under low branches.

“Okay, I’ll go first. I’m technically Nina, but only the press calls me that. I’ve been Nini to my friends since nursery.” she briefly turns to smile at me, and i lose my damn breath, again.

“Well, Nini. I always have been, always will be Gina.” 

She can’t see me, but i smile anyway, and i can practically hear her smirk when she says.

“I think i’m going to have to change that”

God, this girl is going to be the death of me.

* * *

Another minute passes before she leads me off the path, and out to a clearing that has two swings hanging from the trees. Nini walks to one and sits down, immediately trying to swing herself as high as possible.

“Your mom kinda saved me back there, I'll have to thank her later.” 

I sit on the one next to her, lightly swinging back and forth with my shoes dragging on the grass.

“Yeah, it’s crazy. They’re kind of obsessed with us now because of all this. It’s hard to get some time alone, that's why we love this place, no one else can get here.”

“We?”

“Me, Seb and a couple of the other kids hang out together sometimes. There's Alexander's son Carlos - who, by the way, i’m pretty sure Seb has a thing for -, and Ashlyn, her mom isn’t one of the astronauts, but she walks her dog round here all the time, sometimes her boyfriend Red comes too, but that's basically it.”

Forgetting that she can’t actually see me, I nod, at least there's a few people my age here.

“Hopefully they won't care about us too much. I mean, I don't think my dad’s going to get on the first mission anyway.”

Nini jumps off the swing, landing perfectly before taking a seat on the grass, crossing her legs and looking at me.

“What makes you think that?”

I sigh, stopping the swing from moving and planting my feet firmly on the ground.

“Everyone else has all these incredible skills, all dad can do is fly a plane.”

Her loud laugh startles me, and I look at her properly.

“It takes a lot to impress you, doesn’t it Porter?”

She’s still smiling, and it's like, a real smile. I’m about to ask how she does it, how she always manages to look so happy in photoshoots and interviews. Ask how doesn’t it bother her, when Seb emerges from the path. He sort of skips over, making Nini laugh, and takes a seat on the empty swing.

“Can I just say, I watch your streams religiously.” 

I raise my eyebrow, and he blushes a bit.

“Okay that sounded really creepy. It’s just, you’re kind of the only “no bullshit” news giving person out there who doesn’t make me want to punch them in the face after their analysis.”

“Thanks, that's actually really nice. I think.”

Seb keeps blushing, but I laugh so he knows I’m just messing with him. Then, Nini looks away from us, rolling her eyes, so I kick my foot out to nudge her leg.

“What, no raving compliments from you too?”

I smirk, and she holds her hands up, laughing.

“Damn, you caught me, I’m the exact opposite, I can’t stand the way you... analyse politics or whatever.”

“Well, that feedback wasn’t very helpful” 

I cross my arms in mock offence and she rolls her eyes yet again. It seems to be all she does, but it’s kind of adorable, so i won't complain. It’s then that Seb leans closer to me, lowering his voice when he says

“The only feedback she ever gives is that she thinks you’re really cute.”

I lean back, almost falling off the swing as Nini whips her head round, making a choking noise. Seb throws his head back in laughter when Nini gets up to try and shove him off the swing.

“Seb, what the hell!”

A blush takes over her face, and suddenly I'm laughing too.

“Huh. I guess this means I have two fans now.”

Seb shoves Nini as he gets off the swing, starting to walk back down towards the path.

“There’s going to be a party at ours on friday, you should come. All the space talk gets boring pretty fast, but when it gets too bad you can join us out the back with a bottle of champagne that we’ve taken.”

The image makes me smile, two picture perfect Salazar-Roberts kids sneaking into their back garden, drinking and looking up at the sky. The thought reminds me of late nights with Kourtney. Sneaking out onto the fire escape with whatever we could find, usually beers. They were pretty bad, but they did the job.

I look at Nini, not noticing how Seb has already left.

“That sounds nice.”

Her gaze meets mine, and I feel my heart beating faster. It reminds me of how I used to feel around EJ, or Kourtney.

“See you there, I hope” 

Before i know it, she’s running down the path, going after Seb, and i realise i am completely, utterly, totally fucked.


End file.
